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Fundamentals of Film Directing By David K. Irving (McFarland & Company, 2010)

April 15, 2010

In his latest book, David Irving, an associate professor of film production in the Kanbar Institute of Film and Television and chair of the graduate film program at Tisch School of the Arts Asia, has focused his attention on current and aspiring film directors who want to make their job easier by outlining in detail 10 directing fundamentals to follow. The first five chapters are practical in nature: a successful director must first have a screenplay, a cast, a crew, a budget, and good health. The final five address the psychology of directing, including the development of craft, command, pace, luck, and “chutzpah,” which Irving defines as “boldness coupled with extreme self-confidence.”

Irving is also a film director, writer, and producer. His feature directing credits include Night of the Cyclone (with Kris Kristofferson and Marisa Berenson), C.H.U.D. II (with Robert Vaughn and Gerrit Graham), The Emperor’s New Clothes (with Sid Caesar and Robert Morse), Sleeping Beauty (with Morgan Fairchild, Tawnee Welch and Sylvia Miles), Rumpelstiltskin (with Amy Irving and Billy Barty), and Goodbye Cruel World (with Dick Shawn and Cynthia Sykes).

He has also written and directed the documentaries Romare Bearden: Visual Jazz (hosted by Wynton Marsalis), Betye and Alison Saar: Conjure Women of the Arts’, Jacob Lawrence: The Glory of Expression (hosted by Ossie Davis), Dr. Lorraine Hale: Alive with Love, and Robert Colescott: The One-Two Punch.

Irving co-authored the award-winning film production textbook Producing and Directing the Short Film and Video (Focal Press), which is in its third edition.